get these nets
Veteran
Ellicott City woman provides local, global jobs while creating beauty products for Black women
https://www.baltimoresun.com/bal-john-john-williams-iv-20141007-staff.html#nt=byline
Feb 2021
Funlayo Alabi believes that shea butter and its devotees — mostly Black women — will revolutionize the beauty industry where Black consumers already account for 86% of the ethnic beauty market, according to Nielsen, a global research company.
The Ellicott City resident who owns Shea Radiance, a locally made globally sourced natural beauty brand, is well on her way to doing just that. She’s also creating more than a dozen jobs in the Baltimore region and offering a product that fills a niche for Black women, while employing women in West Africa.
Alabi’s company, which launched in 2009, has been a fixture at area farmers markets and in natural beauty boutiques. In November, she also launched a line of products to be sold exclusively at more than 200 Giant Food stores across Maryland, Delaware, D.C., and Virginia.
Many traditional lotions and other skin products typically don’t work for Black consumers oftentimes leaving them with dry skin, Alabi said. As a result, Black people have been known to blend products, such as adding petroleum jelly to lotions, to create longer-lasting moisture for their skin.
“We have always had to be innovative. Black women have been the creators of products that we make in our own kitchens,” she said. “Because the market wasn’t serving us, I think Black women have brought great innovations to the beauty industry that helps us and others.”
Alabi grew up using shea butter in her native Nigeria but was reintroduced to it in 2006when her mother sent her a large shipment for her two children. It immediately addressed Alabi’s and her boys’ dry skin concerns.
“It gave us a glowing healthy appearance. When you find a product that has multiple purposes, it’s exciting,” said Alabi, who quit her information technology job to pursue her business.
Alabi touts the power of shea butter as a “great substitute” for synthetic oils. “People are reading their ingredients [on other products.] They don’t like the fact that their moisture is coming from synthetic oils,” she explained.
Dr. Nia Banks, a plastic surgeon and co-owner of Art of Balance Wellness Spa at The Ritz-Carlton Residents in Baltimore, also likes the benefits of shea butter. She uses the product and says that it is a natural oil that locks in moisturize while creating a barrier against free radicals that irritate the skin and causes eczema.
Alabi says being able to offer her products at Giant makes it available to a wide range of consumers.
“We were excited to bring these luxurious, premium quality products to the grocery market. This is a new wave rising,” she said. There is a demand from customers that they want these natural products — even when they are shopping at Giant.”
Giant became aware of Shea Radiance when Alabi sent the company samples of her product, according to Elizabeth Willey, category manager for Giant.
“The most significant selling point for me was it’s a local brand with an excellent reputation and a full line of well recognizable items,” Willey said. “The product is also natural and organic, which is something our customers are looking for.”
Willey said she loves that Shea Radiance is both a minority and female-owned business.
“We’re also committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive network of suppliers, like Shea Radiance, that reflects the unique backgrounds and experiences of our Giant family, our customers, and our communities,” she said.
Alabi’s company creates jobs on a local and global scale. In Maryland, she provides employment opportunities to 13 people, who make, distribute and promote 33 different types of products. Most of those employees work from her 3,000-square feet warehouse in Savage.
Alabi said she also works directly with women in West Africa to source the raw shea butter, which is harvested from nuts from the indigenous Vitellaria paradoxa, or shea tree, and thus setting up a “women supply chain” of 60 shea butter processors and 6,000 shea nut pickers.
Hamilton resident Shantell Roberts has been a faithful user of Shea Radiance for close to two years. “It’s a quality product,” she said, adding that she is partial to the black soap and whipped shea butter. “I swear by it — especially in the winter when my skin can get dry. It smells amazing and it works wonders.”
Roberts added: “It adds a bit more value that it does support a small Black female business.”
Alabi’s products range in price from $5.49 for a bar of soap to $10.99 for a tub of raw shea butter.
https://www.baltimoresun.com/bal-john-john-williams-iv-20141007-staff.html#nt=byline
Feb 2021
Funlayo Alabi believes that shea butter and its devotees — mostly Black women — will revolutionize the beauty industry where Black consumers already account for 86% of the ethnic beauty market, according to Nielsen, a global research company.
The Ellicott City resident who owns Shea Radiance, a locally made globally sourced natural beauty brand, is well on her way to doing just that. She’s also creating more than a dozen jobs in the Baltimore region and offering a product that fills a niche for Black women, while employing women in West Africa.
Alabi’s company, which launched in 2009, has been a fixture at area farmers markets and in natural beauty boutiques. In November, she also launched a line of products to be sold exclusively at more than 200 Giant Food stores across Maryland, Delaware, D.C., and Virginia.
Many traditional lotions and other skin products typically don’t work for Black consumers oftentimes leaving them with dry skin, Alabi said. As a result, Black people have been known to blend products, such as adding petroleum jelly to lotions, to create longer-lasting moisture for their skin.
“We have always had to be innovative. Black women have been the creators of products that we make in our own kitchens,” she said. “Because the market wasn’t serving us, I think Black women have brought great innovations to the beauty industry that helps us and others.”
Alabi grew up using shea butter in her native Nigeria but was reintroduced to it in 2006when her mother sent her a large shipment for her two children. It immediately addressed Alabi’s and her boys’ dry skin concerns.
“It gave us a glowing healthy appearance. When you find a product that has multiple purposes, it’s exciting,” said Alabi, who quit her information technology job to pursue her business.
Alabi touts the power of shea butter as a “great substitute” for synthetic oils. “People are reading their ingredients [on other products.] They don’t like the fact that their moisture is coming from synthetic oils,” she explained.
Dr. Nia Banks, a plastic surgeon and co-owner of Art of Balance Wellness Spa at The Ritz-Carlton Residents in Baltimore, also likes the benefits of shea butter. She uses the product and says that it is a natural oil that locks in moisturize while creating a barrier against free radicals that irritate the skin and causes eczema.
Alabi says being able to offer her products at Giant makes it available to a wide range of consumers.
“We were excited to bring these luxurious, premium quality products to the grocery market. This is a new wave rising,” she said. There is a demand from customers that they want these natural products — even when they are shopping at Giant.”
Giant became aware of Shea Radiance when Alabi sent the company samples of her product, according to Elizabeth Willey, category manager for Giant.
“The most significant selling point for me was it’s a local brand with an excellent reputation and a full line of well recognizable items,” Willey said. “The product is also natural and organic, which is something our customers are looking for.”
Willey said she loves that Shea Radiance is both a minority and female-owned business.
“We’re also committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive network of suppliers, like Shea Radiance, that reflects the unique backgrounds and experiences of our Giant family, our customers, and our communities,” she said.
Alabi’s company creates jobs on a local and global scale. In Maryland, she provides employment opportunities to 13 people, who make, distribute and promote 33 different types of products. Most of those employees work from her 3,000-square feet warehouse in Savage.
Alabi said she also works directly with women in West Africa to source the raw shea butter, which is harvested from nuts from the indigenous Vitellaria paradoxa, or shea tree, and thus setting up a “women supply chain” of 60 shea butter processors and 6,000 shea nut pickers.
Hamilton resident Shantell Roberts has been a faithful user of Shea Radiance for close to two years. “It’s a quality product,” she said, adding that she is partial to the black soap and whipped shea butter. “I swear by it — especially in the winter when my skin can get dry. It smells amazing and it works wonders.”
Roberts added: “It adds a bit more value that it does support a small Black female business.”
Alabi’s products range in price from $5.49 for a bar of soap to $10.99 for a tub of raw shea butter.
